His first book introduced that prototype of the modern detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but initial poverty as a young practitioner led him into authorship.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born of Irish parentage in Scotland. Doyle borrowed his major elements-the detective of superhuman intellect cases as fantastical as they are criminal the final, dramatic resolution-from the works of Edgar Allan Poe, adding his own distinctive touches: a strong feeling for the atmosphere of late-Victorian London, an interest in the methods of science, and a chivalric concern for justice and the oppressed. Thus begins one of the most famous crime-solving partnerships of all time in this debut of one of literature’s most remarkable detectives. John Watson is brought in to investigate, along with his clever, arrogant new roommate, Sherlock Holmes. Watch the shows on video, recent broadcasts butcher the life out of these wonderful treasures.Two American travelers have been killed-one with poison, the other with a knife through the heart-and the only clues at the scene are a woman’s wedding ring and the German word for “vengeance” written in blood. The biggest crime in the series: why no professional awards or nominations for such marvellous work? There is no excuse for this. Why has it taken over a century for someone to play them in this fashion? The credit goes to the people involved in this landmark production. For the first time, I believed that these men were good friends. Jeremy Brett leaves all the other actors I've seen play Holmes in the shade, and both David Burke and Edward Hardwicke are marvellous as Dr. But there is no negating what went before.

Later shows showed some decline in the quality of the writing and direction, and the illness of star Jeremy Brett also had a deletrious effect. It is amazing to see the way Granada and the cast and crew kept the quality consistently high in every episode of this series, as well as the second series of the ADVENTURES, the RETURN, and the adaptation of THE SIGN OF FOUR. Some episodes are better cinema than many feature films made at the same time. This superb series is not only the best adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories that I have ever seen (and I have seen a few), it is one of the best television series ever made, period.

Sherlock holmes & a study in scarlet